Thistle boss thrilled with first win as new stand-in boss

PARTICK Thistle interim manager Alan Archibald has paid tribute to the squad following the team’s first win with him in charge.

Last Saturday the team drew 2-2 against league leaders Morton and Archibald was keen to turn games in hand into points on the table on Tuesday night.

The team duly delivered and the gaffer said: “It’s great to get the first win.

“The boys really dug deep and ground out a 1-0 result and in some ways that meant more than winning four or five-nil.

“We created a lot of chances and there were times I thought it wasn’t going to happen for us, but thankfully we got the win in the end.”

Thistle are currently five points behind Morton and keen to catch up following a frustrating couple of weeks of postponed matches due to the weather.

Archibald added: “It’s obviously tight at the top of the league and we’re chasing Morton, but we just have to get on with it.

“Tuesday was the first of our games in hand and we’ve won so now we move on to Saturday when we face Airdrie United here at Firhill.”

Airdrie will be no push-overs for the Jags.

Looking ahead to this Saturday’s game, Archibald said: “Every game in this league is a tough one and Saturday will be no different.

“We’ve got a lot of games coming up in a short spell, but players always prefer playing games to training anyway.”

Meanwhle the club reported this week that they have sold out of Ramsdens Cup Final tickets.

A club statement revealed: “In just over a week the fans have snapped up the 4,600 tickets and the club is still receiving phone calls and enquiries from all over the world for more.

“Season ticket holders’ demand was so high that within two days the Jags had sold out Livingston’s East stand for the April 7 showpiece final – and on Tuesday when the remaining 1,200 went on public sale they were gone within a matter of hours.”

The Firhill side are hoping they will get more tickets for the final and fans should keep an eye on the website to find out if that will happen.